Top White House Official Joins Baker In Boston For Beth Israel Tour

BOSTON (CBS) – A top White House official was in Boston Friday to get a closer look at the coronavirus response in Massachusetts. Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar visited the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center with Governor Charlie Baker to tour the hospital’s COVID-19 test kit assembly areas and learn more about the research there. “There is no better place in this country to come learn about what’s going on with respect to COVID, with respect to treatments, with respect to testing, with respective vaccines, with respect to care, than right here and we really appreciate your being with us today,” Baker told Azar. Beth Israel is in the race to develop a coronavirus vaccine in a partnership with Johnson and Johnson. After the tour, they held a roundtable discussion on the Trump administration’s plan to reopen America. “Thanks to the efforts of our frontline health care workers, and that means not just doctors and nurses, that means our janitors, our orderlies, everybody who works in these kinds of health care facilities and puts themselves at risk for the benefit of all of the rest of us,” Azar said. According to Azar, emergency care dropped dramatically during the pandemic. “We see colonoscopies and mammograms declined by over 90 percent, joint replacements down by 90 percent, cardiac surgery is down by 70 percent.” “Referrals here at Beth Israel for breast cancer and blood cancer are down over 60 percent. There’s...
Source: WBZ-TV - Breaking News, Weather and Sports for Boston, Worcester and New Hampshire - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tags: Boston News Covid-19 Boston, MA Events Health Healthcare Status Politics Syndicated Local Alex Azar Beth Israel Deacones Medical Center Charlie Baker Coronavirus Source Type: news